Stock Market & Financial Investment News

AT&T and CWA reach tentative agreement in Mobility contract talksAT&T announced that AT&T Mobility has reached a tentative agreement with the Communications Workers of America, CWA, in contract negotiations covering more than 20,000 AT&T Mobility employees in 36 states and the District of Columbia. The four-year agreement covers Mobility employees in CWA Districts 1, 2/13, 4, 7, and 9 – generally in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Mountain States and West Coast. Out of respect for the CWA and its membership, AT&T will not comment on details of the tentative agreement until it has been presented to members by their leadership. The agreement, which is subject to ratification, covers wages, pension, disability and work rules. Health care and other benefits are bargained separately. CWA members in October ratified a separate four-year benefit agreement for all CWA-bargained Mobility employees nationwide.

Google confirms intent to launch U.S. wireless service, WSJ says Speaking at an industry conference in Barcelona, Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google’s (GOOG) mobile operating system Android, said the search giant will launch a small scale U.S. wireless service with details to be unveiled in the months ahead, says the Wall Street Journal. Other companies in the space include Verizon (VZ), AT&T (T), Sprint (S) and T-Mobile (TMUS). Reference Link

GameStop bids on 163 RadioShack stores, Reuters saysGameStop (GME) bid for 163 RadioShack (RSHCQ) store leases at $15,000 per lease in a Wednesday auction, reports Reuters, citing bankruptcy court filings and spokesperson statements. GameStop has roughly two months to decide whether it will take on the leases or terminate them, and a spokesperson said the locations -- if awarded -- would "primarily be used to expand... Spring Mobile, which is an exclusive AT&T (T) dealer." Reference Link

On The Fly: Closing WrapStocks on Wall Street moved in a narrow range for most of the session while remaining near record levels. The Nasdaq was the strongest of the indices, as it continues its march towards 5,000. Crude oil prices fell by over 5% during the regular trading session, but recovered a bit in after-hours trading. The market is on pace to complete its fourth consecutive week of gains and close out the month of February with gains after suffering losses in January. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., the Consumer Price Index fell 0.7% in January, with the core rate rising 0.2%, versus expectations for the headline CPI to be down 0.6% and the core rate to rise 0.1%. Initial jobless claims rose 31K to 313K in the week ended February 21, versus expectations for 290K first-time claims. Durable goods orders rose 2.8% in January, versus expectations for a 1.6% increase. The FHFA home price index rose 0.8% to 218.6 in December, versus expectations for an increase of 0.5%. COMPANY NEWS: The Federal Communications Commission voted 3 to 2 in favor of adopting new open Internet, or "net neutrality," rules. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has proposed that the FCC use its Title II authority to implement and enforce "bright-line" rules to ban paid prioritization and the blocking and throttling of lawful content and services. However, Wheeler said his proposal will "modernize" Title II, insuring there will be no rate regulation, no tariffs, and no last-mile unbundling. Major Internet Service Providers, including Verizon (VZ), AT&T (T), and Comcast (CMCSA), have opposed the rules, while Netflix (NFLX) has been a strong and vocal supporter of open Internet provisions... Shares of International Business Machines (IBM) slipped $1.94, or 1.19%, to $160.87 after Big Blue held its investor day meeting in NYC. At the meeting, IBM backed its fiscal year profit view but also said that the company now expects currency to impact revenue growth by over 6 points for the full year, which is greater than the impact previously provided based on January 16 spot rates. IBM also said it was shifting $4B into "strategic initiatives," including Big Data, the Cloud, mobile, social and security... Barnes & Noble (BKS) rose $1.67, or 6.89%, to $25.92 after announcing plans to split its Education business from its Retail and NOOK Digital businesses. The separation into two independent, publicly traded companies is anticipated to be completed by the end of August and is intended to be a tax-free distribution to shareholders, B&N noted. MAJOR MOVERS: Among the notable gainers was Emulex (ELX), which jumped $1.57, or 24.69%, to $7.93 after the company agreed to be acquired by Avago Technologies (AVGO) for $606M, or $8 per share in cash. Avago also rose $16.57, or 14.71%, to $129.25 after announcing the deal and reporting "beat and raise" quarterly results. Also higher was UIL Holdings (UIL), which gained $9.74, or 23.01%, to $52.07 after the company agreed to be acquired by Iberdrola USA to create a newly listed U.S. publicly-traded company. The proposed transaction implies total value per share to UIL shareholders of $52.75, including $10.50 per share paid in the form of cash, the companies said. Among the noteworthy losers was Clayton Williams (CWEI), which fell $11.41, or 17.77%, to $52.79 after the company suspended drilling operations in both of its core resource plays, citing low oil prices, and its shares were downgraded at Wunderlich. Also lower following their earnings reports were network solutions provider Inteliquent (IQNT), which dropped $3.05, or 17.33%, to $14.55, and electric weapons maker TASER (TASR), which slid $4.36, or 16.14%, to $22.68. INDEXES: The Dow fell 10.15, or -0.06%, to 18,214.42, the Nasdaq gained 20.75, or 0.42%, to 4,987.89, and the S&P 500 declined 3.12, or 0.15%, to 2,110.74.

FCC votes in favor of adopting net neutrality proposals The Federal Communications Commission voted 3 to 2 in favor of adopting new open Internet, or "net neutrality," rules. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has proposed that the FCC use its Title II authority to implement and enforce open Internet protections, with "bright-line" rules to ban paid prioritization and the blocking and throttling of lawful content and services. However, Wheeler said his proposal will "modernize" Title II, insuring there will be no rate regulation, no tariffs, and no last-mile unbundling. Major Internet Service Providers, including AT&T (T), Comcast (CMCSA), and Verizon (VZ), have opposed FCC Chairman Wheeler's proposals to treat Internet service similar to a utility. Other companies that provide Internet services include Time Warner Cable (TWC), CenturyLink (CTL), DIRECTV (DTV), Cablevision (CVC) and Lumos Networks (LMOS). Netflix (NFLX) has strongly supported open Internet provisions. Cogent Communications (CCOI) and Level 3 Communications (LVLT) are facilities-based providers of Internet access and Internet Protocol communications services that are likely to be impacted by FCC rules on net neutrality.

AT&T VP critical of Dish auction tacticsAT&T (T) VP of Federal Regulatory Joan Marsh stated in a post to a corporate blog that FCC Auction 97 represents "hard evidence that there is significant continuing interest in licensed spectrum... It didn't matter that it was mid-band spectrum. It mattered only that it was broadband spectrum." Marsh notes that Dish (DISH) won more licenses than any other bidder though "none of that spectrum is currently supporting commercial wireless services," with her suggestion being that "auctions should be designed to ensure that licenses go to those willing to deploy networks – not speculators or stockpilers...The government should continue to place a high priority on allocating new licensed bands to the wireless industry." Marsh continues her analysis of Dish, claiming the double and triple-bidding activity carried out by its two designated entities "circumvented auction activity rules, masked actual demand and distorted the auction," as they were able to win significant allocations while enjoying a 25% small business discount. In response to Dish claims that all companies use DEs, Marsh replies that "in more recent auctions... bidders like AT&T, Verizon (VZ) and T-Mobile (TMUS) had no DE relationships, participated directly and paid full price for their licenses." Reference Link

AT&T to match Google Fiber speed, pricing in Kansas City area, KC Star saysAT&T (T) announced on Sunday that it would offer Internet service in Kansas City and several of itssuburbs, with the same speed and pricing as Internet service provided by Google's Google Fiber service in the region, according to The Kansas City Star. Reference Link